Apple profits rise 94pc to $11.6bn, smashing expectations as demand for the iPhone and iPad surged. Profits in the first three months of the year reached $11.6bn (£7.2bn), 94pc higher than in the same quarter of last year and dwarfing the $9.4bn that analysts had forecast.

The iPad and the iPhone once again shone as Apple found new buyers of the gadgets across the world. IPhone sales soared 88pc to 35.1m, while those for the iPad more than doubled to 11.8m.

This will be such good news for the Chinese labourers at Foxconn (not!!!). Apple makes excellent products but they are only worth half what you pay and are becoming the new symbol of division between the haves and have not’s across the world. I can live for now without an IPhone or IPad